Trap Shooting Trivia

the spank

the spank

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The thread asking advice about shooting a cooey got me to thinking about shooters who started out on guns not meant for high volume but shot them and shot them well before moving up into more reliable purpose designed and built models. Actually one shooter in particular came to mind and though I never met him or saw him shoot before his passing in 1996 he became a legend in ATA Trap starting out as a junior shooter in his youth with a Winchester Model 37 he shot well into his adult years before borrowing a Model 12 at the Grand American to complete the schedule of events he had entered, after his 37 broke down leaving him without a gun to shoot. He eventually talked the Model 12’s owner into selling him the gun and went on to become one of the most winning shooters in ATA history shooting that model 12 and he is said to be the reason for the ATA extending handicap from 25 yards to 27 yards in 1956. He was the second person in ATA history to make it to the 27 yard line and on the same day and in the same event as the first person to get a 27 yard punch on their card.
I am curious to see how many old school trap shooters (3Macs1?) can name this person?



A few statistics for good measure:


Five times he led national singles averages, and twice he was handicap leader. ****** placed on 11 first-string All-America teams, captaining it by himself five times—in ‘51, ‘52, ‘54. ‘55 and ‘60.

At Elko, Nev. in 1954 ******* broke 100 straight doubles, 100 from the 25-yard line and 200 singles, but the doubles race was a preliminary one and did not figure in the all-around. The last three days of the shoot he broke two 99s and the 100 in handicap

This is his Model 37 as it is currently displayed....
 
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the spank said:
The thread asking advice about shooting a cooey got me to thinking about shooters who started out on guns not meant for high volume but shot them and shot them well before moving up into more reliable purpose designed and built models. Actually one shooter in particular came to mind and though I never met him or saw him shoot before his passing in 1996 he became a legend in ATA Trap starting out as a junior shooter in his youth with a Winchester Model 37 he shot well into his adult years before borrowing a Model 12 at the Grand American to complete the schedule of events he had entered, after his 37 broke down leaving him without a gun to shoot. He eventually talked the Model 12’s owner into selling him the gun and went on to become one of the most winning shooters in ATA history shooting that model 12 and he is said to be the reason for the ATA extending handicap from 25 yards to 27 yards in 1956. He was the second person in ATA history to make it to the 27 yard line and on the same day and in the same event as the first person to get a 27 yard punch on their card.
I am curious to see how many old school trap shooters (3Macs1?) can name this person?



A few statistics for good measure:


Five times he led national singles averages, and twice he was handicap leader. ****** placed on 11 first-string All-America teams, captaining it by himself five times—in ‘51, ‘52, ‘54. ‘55 and ‘60.

At Elko, Nev. in 1954 ******* broke 100 straight doubles, 100 from the 25-yard line and 200 singles, but the doubles race was a preliminary one and did not figure in the all-around. The last three days of the shoot he broke two 99s and the 100 in handicap

This is his Model 37 as it is currently displayed....
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I would go with Arnold Reigger or Dan B.

Wasn’t the 27 yards line in 1955?
 
JIMMY 808 said:
Have my Dans mixed up though. Dan B isnt that old and you would have shot with him, should be thinking more Dan the football player.
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Dan Orlich....From an article: If you were to ask a trapshooter if he or she knew who was the second person to break 100 in handicap from the 27 yard line, how do you think they would answer? What if you asked them who was the first to break 100 in doubles three, four, and five times? How about a member of the first 500×500 squad ever (and first at the Grand American)?The answer to those trapshooting trivia questions, and many more is the same: Dan Orlich of Reno, Nevada. Dan is a true trapshooting legend who played a significant role in helping our sport gain the success that it has experienced.
 
the spank said:
Dan Orlich....From an article: If [FONT=&]you were to ask a trapshooter if he or she knew who was the second person to break 100 in handicap from the 27 yard line, how do you think they would answer? What if you asked them who was the first to break 100 in doubles three, four, and five times? How about a member of the first 500×500 squad ever (and first at the Grand American)?[/FONT][FONT=&]The answer to those trapshooting trivia questions, and many more is the same: Dan Orlich of Reno, Nevada. Dan is a true trapshooting legend who played a significant role in helping our sport gain the success that it has experienced.[/FONT]
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Ya Dan O.

He would have been on the 27 yard line very fast if not the first. If he was second likely it’s becuse someone went to a shoot before he did.
 
If you want to talk trap trivia and the 27 yard line, don't forget the "Big Dog", Daro Handy. I shot with him a couple of years ago in Vernon and he doesn't miss very often. BTW, for all of you guys that denigrate the 1100, guess what he shoots most of the time?
Daro has shot professionally and coached since 1973. During this time period he also worked for the insurance industry for eight years. He has shot over 1 million rounds of shotgun and rifle ammo and has won more handicaps and honorary yardage punches than any other trapshooter in the ATA and PITA. He holds the long-run record from 27 yards with 505 straight hits, shot over 5 days of competition at two different shoots. He has over 40 100X100 from the 27 yard line, numerous 100X100 in the doubles and singles, and numerous 200X200 in Singles Championship events. Since 1980, he has averaged over 70 honorary yardage punches yearly from the 27 yard line with over 100 punches some years based on 10,000 to 12,000 registered handicap targets. His longest handicap winning streak was over 15 straight handicaps.
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bdft said:
If you want to talk trap trivia and the 27 yard line, don't forget the "Big Dog", Daro Handy. I shot with him a couple of years ago in Vernon and he doesn't miss very often. BTW, for all of you guys that denigrate the 1100, guess what he shoots most of the time?
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Daro is a legend and also not in the trap shooting hall of fame sort of BS actually.

80 years old? and still smacks them better then most and a true big dog of his day no doubt.


Who is a big dog of today on the men’s first all American team shooting an 1100?
 
the spank said:
Who?
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I am not sure was asking.

Not a lot of 100 straights in doubles with 870s these days either I figure but seems to get mentioned as relevant information when someone’s says an 870 is crap.

Maybe in 40 more years a k80 will be considered junk and Phil’s 400x400 x2 will be brought up.
 
JIMMY 808 said:
I am not sure was asking.

Not a lot of 100 straights in doubles with 870s these days either I figure but seems to get mentioned as relevant information when someone’s says an 870 is crap.

Maybe in 40 more years a k80 will be considered junk and Phil’s 400x400 x2 will be brought up.
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You mean it’s not already?! I overheard a discussion two summers ago between a group of K-80 shooters who were talking about Krieghoff having issues with barrels blowing up? First I’d heard of that.
 
JIMMY 808 said:
I am not sure was asking.

Not a lot of 100 straights in doubles with 870s these days either I figure but seems to get mentioned as relevant information when someone’s says an 870 is crap.
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No but the first 100 straight doubles with a pump was shot with a Remington 870.

"In 1950, Remington field rep Rudy Etchen took one of the first 12 production Model 870 shotguns to the Grand American Trap Championships. He became the first shooter to ever break a registered 100 straight doubles targets with a pump. The 870 became his gun of choice after that, and he competed with the shotgun so much his nickname became “Mr. 870.”"

h ttps://www.traphof.org/inductees/details/1/45-etchen-f-rudy
 
the spank said:
You mean it’s not already?! I overheard a discussion two summers ago between a group of K-80 shooters who were talking about Krieghoff having issues with barrels blowing up? First I’d heard of that.
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So for safety reasons they sold them to you for the price of a brand new 1100 for replacement?


They do seem to be leading the charge with premium gun blow ups.
 
Maritime Storm said:
No but the first 100 straight doubles with a pump was shot with a Remington 870.

"In 1950, Remington field rep Rudy Etchen took one of the first 12 production Model 870 shotguns to the Grand American Trap Championships. He became the first shooter to ever break a registered 100 straight doubles targets with a pump. The 870 became his gun of choice after that, and he competed with the shotgun so much his nickname became “Mr. 870.”"

h ttps://www.traphof.org/inductees/details/1/45-etchen-f-rudy
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Something doesn’t add up here....:confused:

F. Rudy Etchen

INDUCTED IN 1980
Born: 25-Sep-1884
Died: 6-Nov-1961
Age: 77
State: KS


In 1950 Rudy Etchen held the distinction of recording the first 100 straight in doubles on the Grand American grounds, but this was only one highlight in a long career which began with a state junior runnerup award in 1935 at age 12 and included ATA championships in five states.
Rudy Etchen’s string of 31 Grand American trophies started in 1936 when he won the sub-junior award in the Clay Target Championship. He successfully defended that title the following year and won the junior trophy in the same race for two more years. Etchen earned the Doubles Championship in 1942, 1943 and 1945 and placed second in ’44 after tieing for the crown. In 1945 he and dad Fred—captain of the U.S. trapshooting team which won the gold medal in the 1924 Olympics—finished second in the Parent-Child race, and that same year Rudy led High-Over-All scoring. Rudy Etchen became an industry representative the following year, winning 15 trophies in that category in five years, including two titles in Doubles, two in the Grand American Handicap, three in the H-O-A, and one each in the All-Around, Clay Target and Dayton Homecoming Championships. His 980x1,000 in the 1950 H-O-A on 600 singles, 300 handicap and 100 doubles was never topped in industry ranks, and it stood as an all-time record until 1966 when amateur Dan Orlich hit 982. Etchen’s perfect century in doubles at Vandalia, just the fifth recorded in ATA history at any location, was during a prelim-day race in 1950. Back to amateur status in 1952, he posted 200 straight to earn the Clay Target crown, won the All-Around, and paced scoring in the H-O-A.
Rudy Etchen earned his initial state crowns in Kansas, where he headed junior singles standings in 1936, 1938 and 1939 and captured the men’s crown the latter two years. In ‘45 and ‘46 he earned the Tennessee doubles titles, also nailing down the handicap and all-around in ‘45. He made a clean sweep of Idaho’s four main championships in 1953, also winning the singles, doubles and all-around in ‘52 and again in ‘57. The Pennsylvania twin-bird and all-around titles were his in 1960, 1962 and 1964, and in 1975 he annexed Louisiana’s all-around crown. (His 99 in doubles and 391 in all-around in 1962 set scoring records for the Keystone state.)
In Golden West Grand action in 1953, Rudy Etchen topped the singles, doubles, all-around (with a record 394x400) and high-over-all, while he ended second in the GWG handicap. The next year he again headed the field in H-O-A scoring.
Rudy Etchen was named to 12 All-America teams—three junior, three industry and six men’s. He was industry co-captain in 1951 and 1952, and he was captain of the men’s team in 1945 and again in 1954.
In 1940 and 1952 Etchen was high average leader in doubles, and he paced singles averages back-to-back in 1952-’53.


Rudy passed away on August 27, 2001.

If he passed away in 1961 at age 77 how did he win titles in 1962, 1964 and 1975 then pass away a second time in 2001? And this is from the link you provided on the ATA Hall of Fame site??!!
 
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I noticed that too, they have his death date and his father's screwed up. Rudy died in 2001. Interesting note about him, he shot that same 870 for over fourty years, the 12th one made, it is estimated to have over 4 million shells through it, in the early 1980's Remington built a replacement for him, when he died the 2 guns were donated back to Remington, the unfired replacement and the original both hang in Remingtons museum. Apparently the story goes, he worked for Remington at the time as a sales rep, Remington suggested he take one to the Grand, he walked down to the line picked on he liked, 12th one made, took it to Vandalia and immediately ran the first 100 straight in doubles recorded at the Grand. Another interesting write up on him;

h ttps://www.joeletchenguns.com/pump.htm
 
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Fred Etchen born in 1884, died in 1961. Frederick Rudolph Etchen. Fred was captain of 1924 US Olympic Trap team. He was Rudy's father and coach.

His son Rudy Etchen born 1923, died in 2001, F. Rudolph Etchen. Rudy was a prominent successful Trap shooter starting at age 12, well before he adopted the Rem. 870, as the above record shows.

Both are in the Trap Shooting Hall of Fame.
 
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